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During the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about Jessica and her black dress.
I wanted her to wear clothes that made her feel pretty, and the dress she had chosen definitely would not have that effect. She had chosen that dress precisely because she hoped it would allow her to blend into the background and hide herself away.
In the late afternoon, on impulse, I picked up my phone and told Nancia’s bodyguard to bring my sister to meet me at a dress store, before texting Nancia and letting her know that I needed her help.
I was waiting in the small, exclusive store when Nancia arrived, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t sure who was more nervous—me at having to choose a dress, or the assistant at seeing an obviously bad guy in her store.
“Thanks for coming, Nancia. You’re a lifesaver. I need to pick a dress for Jessica to wear to tonight’s dance.”
“Got it. You’ve come to the right person—I love shopping,” she said with a grin on her face. “What sort of thing do you think Jess would like?”
“I haven’t got a clue,” I replied honestly. “Definitely nothing in gold, though.”
The first dress my sister picked out had a big puffy skirt.
“I think Jessica might prefer something less ostentatious.”
“Oh, I get it,” said Nancia. “You mean you want an evening gown or cocktail dress. I guess this one is more like a prom dress.”
My brow furrowed. “Prom dress? Cocktail dress? Evening gown? How many different types of dresses are there?”
“You’d be surprised,” said my younger sister with a smile. “Prom dress, cocktail dress, sun dress, evening gown, daywear dress—”
“Okay, okay, I get the idea,” I said, running a hand through my sandy hair. “I just need something that looksnice.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place,” replied Nancia drily, rolling her eyes at me. We continued browsing the racks, Nancia with great enthusiasm, with me less so.
Nancia held up a blue dress. “What do you think of this one? I think this would be something Jessica would like, plus it’s suitable for the dance.”
To be honest, it was probably fine, but I wasn’t entirely sure what I should be looking for. “Are you sure it’s not something her mother would pick?”
“No, Mrs. Bonardi definitely wouldn’t pick it—because it’s tasteful and not tacky.”
I smothered a smile. Nancia really shouldn’t speak about an Underboss’s wife like that, but she was right: Mrs. Bonardi did have a fondness for the tasteless.
I looked at the assistant. “Does this dress come in lilac?”
“As a matter of fact, you’re in luck—it does.” We waited while she retrieved a lilac version of the dress from her storeroom.
When she brought it out, I thought it was perfect. Although the dress was sleeveless, it had a high neckline and was in an elegant style that I thought would suit Jessica.
“I’ll take it,” I said without hesitation.
The assistant brought out a large, slim, ivory box to pack the dress in and at the same time, she reached for some pink tissue paper.
“Do you have lilac tissue paper?” I asked.
She looked up, obviously taken aback that I would be interested in such matters.
“I have some out back. I’ll just go get it.” She rushed off and came back a minute later with paper in the requested color, before carefully wrapping the dress in it and placing the parcel in the box. She placed the lid over it and reached for a roll of pink satin ribbon. But then she stopped. “Do you have a preference for the color of the ribbon?”
“The ribbon?” I wondered what she was talking about.
“Yes, we tie a ribbon around the box.” Upon seeing my confused expression, she shrugged her shoulders. “The women seem to like that—it makes it look pretty and is more fun to unwrap.”
“Lilac,” I barked, just wanting to get out of this place.
She reached into a drawer and pulled out some lilac ribbon.
